Pope ramps up charity office to be near poor, sick

Pope ramps up charity office to be near poor, sick

1of5In this photo taken on Sept.19, 2013 provided by the Vatican newspaper L'Osservatore Romano, Vatican Almoner, Archbishop Konrad Krajewski, right, attends the ceremony for his episcopal ordination, in St. Peter's Basilica, at the Vatican. The existence of the Vatican Almoner dates back centuries: It is mentioned in a papal bull from the 13th-century Pope Innocent III, and Pope Gregory X, who ruled from 1271-1276, organized it into an official Holy See office for papal charity. Up until Krajewski came along, the almoner was typically an aging Vatican diplomat who was serving his final years before being allowed to retire at age 75. Francis changed all that, tapping the 50-year-old Pole to be a more vigorous, hands-on extension of himself. The almoner's duties are two-fold: carrying out acts of charity, and raising the money to fund them. (AP Photo/L'Osservatore Romano, ho)Photo: HOPD

2of5In this photo taken on Sept.19, 2013 provided by the Vatican newspaper L'Osservatore Romano, Vatican Almoner, Archbishop Konrad Krajewski attends the ceremony for his episcopal ordination, in St. Peter's Basilica, at the Vatican. The existence of the Vatican Almoner dates back centuries: It is mentioned in a papal bull from the 13th-century Pope Innocent III, and Pope Gregory X, who ruled from 1271-1276, organized it into an official Holy See office for papal charity. Up until Krajewski came along, the almoner was typically an aging Vatican diplomat who was serving his final years before being allowed to retire at age 75. Pope Francis changed all that, tapping the 50-year-old Pole to be a more vigorous, hands-on extension of himself. The almoner's duties are two-fold: carrying out acts of charity, and raising the money to fund them. (AP Photo/L'Osservatore Romano, ho)Photo: HOPD

3of5In this photo taken on Sunday, Nov. 17, 2013, Vatican Almoner, Archbishop Konrad Krajewski distributes rosaries in boxes designed to resemble a packet of pills, outside St. Peter's Basilica, at the Vatican. The existence of the Vatican Almoner dates back centuries: It is mentioned in a papal bull from the 13th-century Pope Innocent III, and Pope Gregory X, who ruled from 1271-1276, organized it into an official Holy See office for papal charity. Up until Krajewski came along, the almoner was typically an aging Vatican diplomat who was serving his final years before being allowed to retire at age 75. Francis changed all that, tapping the 50-year-old Pole to be a more vigorous, hands-on extension of himself. The almoner's duties are two-fold: carrying out acts of charity, and raising the money to fund them. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)Photo: Gregorio Borgia, STR

4of5In this photo taken on Sept.19, 2013 provided by the Vatican newspaper L'Osservatore Romano, Vatican Almoner, Archbishop Konrad Krajewski attends the ceremony for his episcopal ordination, in St. Peter's Basilica, at the Vatican. The existence of the Vatican Almoner dates back centuries: It is mentioned in a papal bull from the 13th-century Pope Innocent III, and Pope Gregory X, who ruled from 1271-1276, organized it into an official Holy See office for papal charity. Up until Krajewski came along, the almoner was typically an aging Vatican diplomat who was serving his final years before being allowed to retire at age 75. Francis changed all that, tapping the 50-year-old Pole to be a more vigorous, hands-on extension of himself. The almoner's duties are two-fold: carrying out acts of charity, and raising the money to fund them. (AP Photo/L'Osservatore Romano, ho)Photo: HOPD

5of5In this photo taken on Sept.19, 2013 provided by the Vatican newspaper L'Osservatore Romano, Pope Francis, left, hugs Vatican Almoner, Archbishop Konrad Krajewski, after his episcopal ordination, in St. Peter's Basilica, at the Vatican. The existence of the Vatican Almoner dates back centuries: It is mentioned in a papal bull from the 13th-century Pope Innocent III, and Pope Gregory X, who ruled from 1271-1276, organized it into an official Holy See office for papal charity. Up until Krajewski came along, the almoner was typically an aging Vatican diplomat who was serving his final years before being allowed to retire at age 75. Francis changed all that, tapping the 50-year-old Pole to be a more vigorous, hands-on extension of himself. The almoner's duties are two-fold: carrying out acts of charity, and raising the money to fund them. (AP Photo/L'Osservatore Romano, ho)Photo: HOPD

VATICAN CITY - When he was archbishop of Buenos Aires, Pope Francis was known to sneak out at night and break bread with the homeless, sit with them on the street and eat with them, as part of his plan to share the plight of the poor and let them know someone cared.

That's not so easy to do now that he's pope. But Francis is providing one-on-one doses of emergency assistance to the poor, sick and aged through a trusted archbishop. Konrad Krajewski is the Vatican Almoner, a centuries-old job of handing out alms - and Francis has ramped up the job to make it a hands-on extension of his personal charity.

"The Holy Father told me at the beginning: 'You can sell your desk. You don't need it. You need to get out of the Vatican. Don't wait for people to come ringing. You need to go out and look for the poor,' " Krajewski said.

Krajewski gets his marching orders each morning: A Vatican gendarme goes from the Vatican hotel where Francis lives to Krajewski's office across the Vatican gardens, bringing a bundle of letters the pope has received from the faithful asking for help. On the top of each letter, Francis might write "You know what to do."

And so Don Corrado, as he likes to be called, hits the streets of Rome and beyond.

He visits homes for the elderly in the name of the pope, writes checks to the needy in the name of the pope - even traveled to the island of Lampedusa in the name of the pope after a migrant boat capsized last month, killing more than 350 people.

Over four days on Lampedusa, Krajewski bought 1,600 phone cards so the survivors could call loved ones back home in Eritrea.